No, You Don't Know Everything

Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate about this matter.
Acts 15:6 (NET)

Just prior to this verse, some of the believers who were formerly pharisees said that the new gentile believers must be circumcised according to Jewish law. This was a new area for the apostles. They've never dealt with gentiles before, what were they to do? Like many of us, we encounter new areas that we have never experienced before, and sometimes when we venture out, we will make mistakes. In fact it is not a "will we make a mistake," it is more "when we make a mistake" because mistakes will happen. And yes, they will more than likely affect other people. As leaders when we encounter a "new" area, or an issue that rises up in the people that we lead, we need to take a note from the apostles and meet with key people to help decide what to do. As individuals we have got to face the fact that we do not know everything. I know this is going to hurt the pride of some people, but the reality is just because you are a leader doesn't mean that you know everything...because you don't. And if you think you know it all, you are deceiving yourself and you are deceiving God. When you humble yourself to hear the opinions of others in your leadership team, you will be able to hear from all sides and make a just decision. And even if you are not a leader, you still don't know everything. So when an issue comes up, find 1 or 2 people that you trust and seek their counsel.

Take Away...

When issues rise up either in your team or in your life, seek counsel. Don't think you know everything, because you don't...that's a fact!

Intentional Prayer

Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! 5:18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.
James 5:17-18 (NET)

I was sitting in my room where I usually go to spend my time with God and I started praying for people. The Holy Spirit stopped me dead in my tracks. He said listen to what you are praying. So I did and realized I was praying an un-intentional prayer. What I mean by that is that I was praying one of those standard prayers, "Lord be with them" and "Lord continue to work in their lives." The Holy Spirit said "Really? You don't think I won't work in their lives if you don't pray that? I am already working with them, what do you want to see happen? That is what you need to pray." So I thought about it and realized that with every prayer I do want to see a specific outcome for whatever it is I'm praying for. For example, I was praying for a couple and I was saying "Lord be with them and work with them" when I should be intentional about what I was praying for and pray "Lord, I want to see them walk in peace, I want to see them not argue with each other but start learning how to accept each other and their faults. I ask You that they learn how to deflect the arrows that the enemy is shooting at them." Intentional prayer, just like Elijah! He was very specific in his prayer in James 5:17-18, and God honored that! But what if you don't know what to pray? If you dig deep down, there is a reason you are praying for a situation, pray for that reason, it is there! I'm not saying you are going to get or see whatever it is you are praying for, but at least you will be intentional about what you are praying about!

Take Away...

When you pray for someone or something, be intentional and pray for the outcome of whatever it is you are praying for.

Got Up and Went

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went.
Acts 8:26–27 NET

The key phrase I want you to see is the last phrase, "So he got up and went." I can't tell you how many times I'd be going throughout my day and the Lord would tell me to do something, but I never "got up and went." Sad to say for most of my Christian walk, I didn't "got up and went." In fact instead of "got up and went," I would "rationalize and not do." It seems we can reason and rationalize our way out of anything and everything, but the truth of the matter is that when we do that we are saying one of two things, "God, you don't know what you are talking about" or "God, I just don't want to do it."  For example, I'd be walking through a store, and I'd see someone drop a piece of paper on the ground and I'd hear this little tiny whisper in my head, "go pick that up for that person." For the next hour I'd be telling God how that piece of paper was really nothing, and after that didn't work, then I'd go spiritual and say "God if it was really important, then You'd find a way to get that paper to them." He would eventually respond with "I am finding a way, and its YOU!" In all that time of arguing and rationalizing, in the matter of just a few seconds I could have been obedient to Him and picked that piece of paper up and given it to that person and walk away in peace. We need to be like Philip and start making our minds up that when God tell us to do something, we get up and go! 

Take Away...

Instead of arguing with God when He tells you to do something, make your mind up to do whatever He is telling you to do, and "get up and go!"

The Way Out

And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13

I've written about temptation before, however I really felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to speak on this again. We are all tempted in some way just about every day of our lives. Not everyone is tempted by the same thing, but we are all tempted to do something, either good or bad. And its really not the good things we are tempted by that are the problem, it is the bad things that give us problems. I can't tell you how many times I've been tempted by the same thing over and over and over, and I fall into the temptation over and over and over, and it seems I keep going around that same proverbial mountain constantly. I cry out to God, "when is this thing going to be over." Then I read in Corinthians that God provides a way out and I say to God "where is this way out, because I sure don't see it." He said it is there, it is always there, you just are looking for it. So I took a step back and realize that I was looking for the way out after I did the actual action of what I was being tempted to do. You won't see the way out while you are doing the action of whatever it is you are being tempted to do. You see the way out WHILE you are being tempted and before it turns into an action. Every temptation starts as a feeling, which will then turn into a thought...and if you entertain that thought long enough it WILL turn into an action. The "way out" the Apostle Paul was talking about is seen during the feeling and thought part of temptation. "Well Kent, I can't help what I think about." That's true, you cannot control what thoughts pop into your mind...HOWEVER you can control what you do with them. When you are in the "thought" part of temptation, that is where you start saying "NO!" But that isn't enough. You MUST apply God's word to that temptation...the way out! Look at what happened with Jesus in the wilderness. Every time He was tempted He spoke the word of God to that temptation. That is what we need to do. You know the areas in your life where you are tempted, I encourage you to find the scriptures that speak to that temptation, and then speak those words when you are tempted.

Take Away...

Don't let your thoughts run you when you are tempted, God gave you the way out...His Word! Speak His word to your thoughts when you are being tempted to do something you know you shouldn't be doing.

Waiting on Tables

So the twelve called the whole group of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables.
Acts 6:2 (NET)

The whole context of this scripture was that the disciples were tending to EVERYTHING! They were tending to prayer, teaching, waiting on people, etc. They fell into the trap that Moses fell into. It took Moses' father-in-law to speak up and say "Dude, you can't do it all!" The disciples realized this too and said "Bros, we can't do everything because it is taking away from the task we are called to do." This doesn't mean that "waiting on tables" was less important than teaching and prayer, it meant that they could no longer do what God was telling them to do. In fact in verse 4 they said the "waiting on tables" was a necessary task. As humans, we are limited in what we can do. We are also limited to 24 hours in a day. Us perfectionist (and those with pride...yep, I said that) think we can do everything AND we can do it better. But we perfectionist (and prideful people and you know who you are) have to lay down that thinking and come to the reality that we can't do everything and that we need to do only what we are called to do. Another way of looking at it is this...if you are trying to do everything when other people are called to do what you think you need to be doing when you are suppose to be doing something else, you are robbing the other people of what God has called them to do. In other words, I am called to teach and that is what I am doing. But if I think "well bless God I should be running the children's ministry and playing on the worship team and greeting" then I am robbing those that ARE called to do those things. 

Take Away...

Don't think you can do everything, because you can't. Do what you are called to do, and let others do what they are called to do.

Nothing is Impossible

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.
John 15:5 (NET)

There are many things in life that God has given us wisdom to do that we really don't need to ask for help. Its not that we don't need Him, its just that He already has given us what we need for many things. And then there are things that seem so daunting that we think there is no way we can do them. For example, many years ago I had a conflict with someone that I thought there was going to be no way for me to forgive this person. I would go through that roller coaster of "yes, Lord I forgive them" and then a couple days later I'd be back to being angry with them because I remembered what they did. I knew the right thing was to forgive them, but it was so hard and seemed impossible. Jesus is right, apart from Him, I can't do it. Apart from Jesus, there was no way my mind was going to let me forgive that person. So I said "Lord, you have to help me, otherwise I'm going to keep on this rollercoaster and go crazy." It took some time, but He helped me. He showed me things inside of me that were keeping me from forgiving.  We addressed them and I was eventually able to truly forgive that person. Without His help, I would never have known what to do. If we think we can do anything on our own, we are fooling ourselves. Jesus is not a liar, it is true that apart from Him we can accomplish nothing, we need His help, everyday. It is really a good place to be when you realize you can't do it on your own, it humbles us and allows Jesus to do His job.

Take Away...

When something seems too daunting, that there's no way you can do it...ask Jesus to help you and believe that with Jesus, nothing is impossible!

The Learning Phase of Contentment

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in any circumstance.
Philippians 4:11 (NET)

A lot of people think that the Apostle Paul was this super human, that he was able to do things no other human could because he was different. I can't argue that he was different, but not in the way most people think. The Apostle Paul was different in the respect that he learned to trust God so much that it didn't matter what his circumstances were, he was content. The key word here is "learned." He didn't get contentment overnight. It probably took several years before he was able to have so much trust in God to be content no matter what was going on. I mean, look at what he endured in his years of ministry, imprisoned several times, ridiculed, slandered, who knows what else, but in all of that he learned to be content. He was going to have to go through those things anyway, so instead of being upset and angry and grumbling the entire time, he chose to trust God that He would take care of him and therefore he was content. This is something I am still learning. Yes, I'm in that learning phase, I haven't found contentment in every situation...but I getting closer. I can't tell you how many times I caught myself getting frustrated with traffic that I was grumbling, getting anxious, and angry..."what don't the lights turn faster, why can't the car ahead of me speed up, blah blah blah!" I am learning that when those things happen, I need to say "hey, I'm in traffic, I'm going to be in traffic, so it doesn't matter if I get upset or not I'm still going to be in traffic. Me being upset isn't going to get me through traffic any faster. So Kent, get over yourself and choose to be content, and I ask you Jesus to settle me down!" Yep, contentment doesn't flood me right away, but each time I say it, I feel a little less anxiety and frustration...and a little more at peace. You're going to have to go through your day in whatever circumstance you are in anyway, so why not choose to go through it content? It makes going through your day much easier!

Take Away...

When you find yourself getting worked up because of your circumstances, ask God to settle you down and do a little self-talking and choose contentment.

New Years Resolutions

I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful in putting me into ministry, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man.
1 Timothy 1:12-13 (NET)

Yes, I know its January 2, but can we go back one day to January 1? You know, the day we all make New Years Resolutions (NYR), the day we say we are going to turn a new leaf and exercise more, or eat less, or be more patient, or whatever. But somehow those NYRs never seem to last, do they? I definitely notice this at the gym. The first two weeks of the new year and that gym is packed, by the beginning of February, the population at the gym has dropped by at least 25%, and by March it is back to what is was on December 31. We do this all the time to ourselves, and then when we don't fulfill our NYR, we start beating ourselves up..."see, you couldn't even do this!" or "if you can't do this, what makes you think you can do that?" or "see, you're just a loser, they all said you'd never last." Those words bite to the very core of our being...and the funny thing is, we allow it! We allow those words to eat at us, infect us, deprive us of sleep, make us agitated, etc. The Apostle Paul had every reason to think those same things and more, I mean the man killed Christians before he became one. From our point of view he had every right to be down on himself. But that isn't what he did. He chose to believe that Jesus cleaned the slate in his life, he chose to believe that Jesus really did die for him and that he now has new life! Paul, instead of beating himself up over past mistakes, chose life and went on to write two thirds of the New Testament. We have a choice. We can either continue to put ourselves down, and basically choosing death, OR we can choose life...choose the life Jesus died for. Yes we all made mistakes, you and I, and yes we will continue to make mistakes, and yes some of them may be whoppers, but Jesus died for it all so you don't have to continue to beat yourself up.

Take Away...

When you fall short of that NYR you made, instead of beating yourself up over it, say "yes, I didn't make this one, but that's okay, I'm no less a person of that, in fact I'm a better person because Jesus loves me!"

Plans for 2016

For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NET)

I have a journal that I write in everyday during my time with God...my "Coffee in the Cave" time. I journal what I believe God is speaking to me, how He helped me, how He instructed me, disciplined me, etc. I was reading through my entries in January 2015, and one thing struck me. Not once in all of January was even a thought that God would have Tammy and I start a church. We didn't even have a clue back in January 2015 that one year later, we would be starting a church. I like to think I know whats going to happen over the next few months and years, and its good to have plans, it gives us something to work toward. But one thing we absolutely MUST do is check with God before pursuing those plans. Why? Because He has plans also! He has plans for me that take priority over my plans. Yes, He will let me do my own thing for a while, until the plans fail, and yes they will fail, and it is usually at that point that He gets me back on to His plan. Some would think, "well, isn't that controlling?" Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I look at what His plans do for me, they "prosper me, not harm me, they give me a future filled with hope." I don't call that controlling, I call that "plans I want to follow" plans! The whole point of this is to say, you never know what the future holds for you. You may think you do, but the reality is you don't. But we have God who knows the future! We have a God who has plans for each of us for the future...and they are not just any plans, they are plans that are going to prosper us and not harm us. They are plans that give us a future filled with hope and not dread! Make a choice that for 2016, you are going to be open to whatever God is leading you to do, you may be surprised at what you will be doing come December 2016!

Take Away...

Write down what you see yourself doing in 2016 and put it away for safe keeping. Then on January 1, 2017, look at it and see where God has taken you, you may be astonished at where He has lead you!